Both Product Management certification and real-world experience can be beneficial in their unique ways.
A certification offers a solid understanding of fundamentals while signaling commitment to mastering the craft, making it useful for transitions, confidence boosting, and entry-level PM positions.
Real-world experience provides lessons on collaboration, decision-making, customer feedback handling, tough trade-offs, influencing without authority, and delivering products under pressure.
Having both certification and experience can be a powerful combination for product managers, with a certification helping to get a foot in the door and experience ensuring longevity.